Our chosen charity partner this year is Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke, which was established in 1994 and has invested around £9.5 million into local universities and hospitals along with almost £8 million in vital research. This has gone a very long way in funding treatments, medications, therapies, rehabilitation programs and cures for so many people and families affected.

Some stats;

• 641,644 people are on registers for chest, heart and stroke conditions (including hypertension) in Northern Ireland.

• About 1 in 5 people have a diagnosis of a chest, heart or stroke condition (around 290,000 people)

• At least 1 in 4 people (about 380,000) are living with a chest, heart or stroke condition. This is thought to be more with a large number undiagnosed.

• Combined these conditions are the #1 cause of death in NI. A staggering 30% of all deaths in 2021.

Broken down this is 14 deaths per day or 5268 per year.

Conditions that are researched and treated include;

Respiratory conditions (asthma, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) pulmonary fibrosis and pneumonia)

Circulatory conditions (high blood pressure, heart attacks, heart failure and coronary heart disease)

Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Stroke and TIA (transient ischaemic attack)

Atrial Fibrillation

More information can be found on their website - https://nichs.org.uk/